In an interview with The Guardian, Damon Albarn set about dutifully dashing any hopes that some of his highest profile projects will continue putting out music. Albarn, who will release his "strange pastoral folk" solo record Dr. Dee next month, says that Blur will be playing its final gig Aug. 12 at London's Hyde Park as part of the closing concert for the Olympics. He also expects the recent single, "Under The Westway," to be the band's final recording. At least that's what he'd like to happen. "One thing I've learned, and I'm sure you're exactly the same, is that everything I think I've got totally sorted out, and I know exactly what's going to happen, it never works out that way," he said.

This comes after reports that Blur was working on a new album and pondering a tour this year. The explanation for the change in plans appears to be creative stasis, at least as far as half of the band is concerned. "I find it very easy to record with [guitarist] Graham [Coxon]," Albarn said. "He's a daily musician. With the other two, it's harder for them to reconnect. You know what I mean? It's fine when we play live—it's really magical still—but actually recording new stuff, and swapping musical influences, it's quite difficult."

The future of Gorillaz seems similarly non-existent except, you know, for the possibility that it's not. At issue is a conflict with artist Jamie Hewlett, Albarn's collaborator in the group who he says was disengaged with providing visuals for 2009's Plastic Beach. "Jamie [thinks Gorillaz is finished], which is fair enough. I think we were at cross purposes somewhat on that last record, which is a shame," he said. "The music and the videos weren't working as well together, but I felt we'd made a really good record, and I was into it. So we went and played it." [via Rolling Stone]

Nice that he got his money's but it sounds like he's a bit messed up. And as much as I love Cohen, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if there was some abuse (though more mental/emotional than physical) in their sexual relationship. Len just seems troubled that way.

Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot sentenced to 2 years in prison for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." Which is to say loudly and musically decried the relationship between the Orthodox Catholic Church and Vladimir Putin in a public guerilla concert. Understandably, there's a lot of people not taking this news well. A really fascinating and sad story that at least is causing a lot of outcry that will hopefully lead to some action.

from the AV Club:

Quote

After five months spent in detention, and a trial that sparked widespread international protests and demonstrations of support from fellow musicians ranging from Madonna to Paul McCartney to Peaches, all three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years in prison, after being found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred." Not surprisingly, the verdict was not well received: According to the Guardian, shouts of "Shame!" could be heard in the courtroom. Numerous incensed supporters were arrested outside, including Gary Kasparov, World Chess champion and opposition leader, who told reporters that he had been "calmly speaking with journalists" when police suddenly rushed him and threw him into a van where they "brutally beat me." All in all, the trial that has spurred troubling questions about Russia's supposed freedoms continues to do so in its aftermath.

The verdict—which reportedly took some three hours to read—essentially boiled down to this: In staging one of its usual guerilla performances inside the Christ the Saviour Cathedral, where it played a "punk prayer" song denouncing the close relationship between the Orthodox Church and Vladimir Putin, Pussy Riot "degraded and insulted" Russia's religious citizens, "inciting religious hatred," thereby violating the Russian constitution. Naturally, it only gets murkier from there, including the judge's assertions that the band members' "jerking of limbs" was "further proof of hatred toward Christians" and that the mere fact that they are feminists—putting them in opposition to the Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations that "do not agree with feminism"—is evidence of a "religious hatred motive" in their performance.

In her eloquent, unapologetic closing statement, Pussy Riot's Yekaterina Samutsevich reiterated that the band had chosen to play in the Cathedral as a reclamation, arguing that it had become little more than "a flashy backdrop" for Putin's security forces—including his former KGB crony Kirill Gundyayev, who now runs Russia's Orthodox Church. Their performance, therefore, was meant to take it back for the people— "to unite the visual imagery of Orthodox culture and that of protest culture, thus suggesting to smart people that Orthodox culture belongs not only to the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch and Putin, that it could also ally itself with civic rebellion and the spirit of protest in Russia." It had little to do with attacking religion. In fact, it had everything to do with attempting to rescue it from its current corrupted state.

And yet, Samutsevich and her bandmates seemed to be under no illusion that such a statement would be taken seriously. But she also recognized that they'd already scored a symbolic victory, saying, "On the one hand, we expect a guilty verdict. Compared to the judicial machine, we are nobodies, and we have lost. On the other hand, we have won. The whole world now sees that the criminal case against us has been fabricated. The system cannot conceal the repressive nature of this trial." Given the response to their sentencing thus far—including it being denounced by Amnesty International and the U.S. Russian embassy, and even prompting a call for a pardon from the Russian Orthodox Church itself—she's absolutely right.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called for the three imprisoned members of punk band Pussy Riot to be freed. According to the Associated Press, Medvedev says keeping the trio in jail any longer would be “unproductive.” The release of Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevitch could come as early as Oct. 1 when the group’s case comes up for appeal.

The members of the guerilla art collective were sentenced to two years in jail in August, when they were convicted of “hooliganism driven by religious hatred” after performing a short, guerrilla piece about Vladimir Putin inside Moscow’s main cathedral. Since their arrest, the group has garnered support from everyone from Paul McCartney to Peaches. Some of those tributes will be compiled into a book, Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer For Freedom, due in about two weeks from Feminist Press. The book will also include the trio’s letters from prison, courtroom statements from the defense, poems, and a transcript of the "punk prayer" that got the group in so much trouble to begin with.

Artist, producer, and art-rock deity Brian Eno will release a new solo album Nov. 13. The LP, entitled LUX, will feature four tracks, all of which run between 18 and 20 minutes—so Eno is clearly gunning for the Top 40 on this one. LUX marks the first time Eno has released solo work since 2005's Another Day On Earth. His last album, Drums Between The Bells, was a collaboration with poet Rick Holland.

Not unlike two praying mantises circling each other in preparation for mating, David Bowie and Morrissey are in a bit of a row. The tiff stems from the ex-Smiths singer’s plans to use an unpublished photo of the two as the cover image for his upcoming reissue of the “The Last Of The Famous International Playboys” single. Taken by Linder Sterling in 1992, the photo has never been seen before—and if Bowie has his way, it’ll never be seen, period.

Bowie has ordered EMI—Morrissey’s label, and the label that holds the license to most of Bowie’s back catalog—to scrap the pic. There’s no official explanation as to why, though given Bowie’s reticence to expose it, the subject must be something terrible. Like, maybe the two are eating hot wings while looking totally hungover.

There’s also no comment from Morrissey yet, as he’s currently hospitalized with ulcer-related issues. However, knowing him, some sharp words should be forthcoming in the very near future.

That's kind of odd. I wonder why David is demanding it not being used. Well, with no knowledge whatsoever of what the deal is, I'm going to assume that Morrissey is in the wrong, because he strikes he as a deeply unpleasant human being. Get well soon, guy I can't stand.